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When you think of mobile phone operating systems, Android and iOS probably come to mind. Beyond these two, very few other OSes enter the public discourse. However, the Indian government is considering changing this by creating a rival to these two industry juggernauts.

But is this a good idea or another fool’s errand that many companies have fallen foul of? Well, we asked our readers this in a recent poll. Here are the results.

Do you think an Indian-made mobile OS is a good idea?

Results

This was a popular one, gaining over 2,300 responses since it went live on January 26. We only provided yes or no choices, but the final tally was remarkably close.

The “yes” camp only just gained the majority, with 52.5% of the vote. Those who believe an Indian government OS is a terrible idea account for 47.5% of the vote.

Head-to-head: Android vs iOS

Competition is always welcome. If a massive structure like the Indian government puts its full weight behind a homegrown OS, it could find some degree of success. However, there are several hurdles to jump before that becomes a reality.

Modern OSes need app support and support from major developers and companies. If massive firms like Microsoft couldn’t cut it in this space, why would a government be any more successful? Ultimately, the Indian government would need users to drop Android and iOS for its homegrown OS to see any success. There are no guarantees that this would happen.

Your comments

• nemo: Sailfish OS is a great operating system that they could use the more people use this os the more developers would feel the need to make an app for it and the more native apps the more attractive it will be for regular people. Good thing about this is it is ready to go and has an Android compatibility layer so you can run Android as a native app which will negate any worry’s about apps. Or work on their own Linux os for example base it on Ubuntu Touch. Either way, this could be a win-win for all of us.
• CR45H 0V3RR1D3: Creating a functional Os is only one aspect of it. They’ll need to get tech manufacturers on board if they expect to have peripherals to use with it. Making it work with Android isn’t an answer, because that would still afford Google the handhold to remain at the top. Of course, at this point, it’s all wishful thinking, Apple and Google are firmly entrenched as the standards. So, without some new niche angle, there really is no reason to even consider another ecosystem.
• eszkar: If India could leverage RISC-V chip architecture and Linux itself (something like postmarketOS) with Android app support (much like SailfishOS can) that would be interesting to me if made available for peer review.

That’s it for this poll. Thanks for your voters and comments. If you have any thoughts about the Indian government’s homegrown OS plans or the poll results, drop a comment below.